Alarún
Alarún Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 98 coloured ingredients: 7 different ingredients in 7 different colours, two of each:
- Fungi magica (happiness)
- Moon berries (healing)
- Calendula (youth)
- Phoenix feathers (protection)
- Dragon eggs (strength)
- Mandrake (love)
- Myrrh (harmony)
- 1 special ingredient: Centum auri
- 7 Alarún colour cards
- Alarún card
- Score sheet
- 4 druid apprentices
- Score card
Objective
Score most points by brewing powerful potions and scoring bonus points along the way. During the game you collect 24 ingredients and combine them in the best possible way into your own magic 5x5 square. At the end of the game your magic square is complete. The ingredients in every row and every column form potions that will score you points.
There are 2 ways to increase the power of your potions:
- Place the same ingredient in different colours uninterrupted in the same row or column.
- Place different ingredients in the same colour uninterrupted in the same row or column.
Setup
- Shuffle all ingredient cards and place 3 ingredients face up in the centre of the table.
- Deal all players 3 ingredient hand cards.
- The rest of the ingredients form the stack. Place Alarún on top of the stack.
- Choose a druid apprentice and place it in front of you on the table. This is the card you start your magic square with. When the final scores are calculated, this card acts as an ingredient of your choice in a colour of your choice.
- Every player takes a colour card from Alarún. Place the card in front of you and keep the colour secret. The colour card will not be part of your magic square. At the end of the game, you will receive 2 bonus points from Alarún for every ingredient in this colour that is in your magic square. Every colour has a unique symbol that can be used to distinguish the colours.
The colour that you choose for your druid apprentice will not score bonus points from Alarún.
In a game with 2 players, place 3 ingredients face down in the centre of the table next to the 3 face up ingredient cards.
Centum auri
There is 1 very rare ingredient: Centum auri. Shuffle this card with the other ingredient cards. Just like the other ingredients the Centum auri can be placed in your magic square. The Centum auri is worth 10 points. However, the Centum auri interrupts the potions you are brewing in that particular row and column of your magic square. If the Centum auri is in your hand you are allowed to swap it with an ingredient that is in the centre of the table, like any other ingredient.
Game Play
The game of Alarún plays in 8 rounds, each in the same way. In these 8 rounds you place 24 ingredients that form your magic square of 5x5 cards. Your druid apprentice completes your magic square.
The player who was in a forest most recently starts the game. Play clockwise after that.
Actions
In your turn you choose 1 of the following actions:
- Swap. Swap 1 ingredient from your hand with 1 of the 3 ingredients that are face up in the centre of the table.
- Pass. Do not swap an ingredient.
- Swap and pass. Swap all 3 ingredients from your hand with all 3 ingredients that are face up in the centre of the table. This is a pass at the same time.
In a game of 2 players a 4th action is possible. The 4th action is to discard the 3 face up ingredient cards on an open discard pile and flip the 3 ingredient cards that lie face down.
End of your turn and end of the round
Your turn is over after you have played 1 of these actions.
The player who passes first places Alarún in front of him/her on the table (as a reminder who will start the next round). After the first pass, the other players can play 1 more action before the round ends. Thus, once you have passed in a round you are not allowed to swap any ingredient cards again.
Round 1: The beginning of your potions
At the end of round 1 every player places his or her 3 ingredients face up on the table. Every ingredient must be placed adjacent to either your druid (the card you start with) or another ingredient. You may place any ingredient next to any other ingredient.
Example: Lauren places 2 dragon eggs next to her druid apprentice and 1 phoenix feather above it.
Round 2-8: Increase the power of your potions
From the previous round there are 3 (or 6) ingredients in the centre of the table:
- With 2 or 3 players: discard all these cards on an open discard pile. Take 3 new cards from the stack and place them face up in the centre of the table. With 2 players, also place 3 new cards face down in the centre of the table.
- With 4 players: leave the 3 ingredient cards in the centre of the table. Start the next round with these cards.
All players take 3 new ingredients from the stack.
The player who passed first in the previous round starts the next round. He or she places Alarún back on the remaining stack of ingredients. All players have the same actions to choose from.
At the end of round 2 until 8 all players place their ingredients in their own magic square. Again, they must be placed adjacent to either your druid apprentice or another ingredient.
IMPORTANT! Your magic square cannot be larger than 5x5 ingredients.
Scoring
The scoring follows after round 8. The ingredients in every row and every column of your magic square form a potion.
Determine the power of your 10 potions
- Choose for which ingredient in which colour your druid apprentice counts.
- Determine your score per row and per column, using the table below.
Number of points per potion (number of uninterrupted ingredients of the same colour or the same type):
| Ingredients | Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 15 |
- The more ingredients of the same colour or of the same type are placed uninterrupted next to each other, the higher your score per potion.
- If the same ingredient of the same colour is placed twice in a row or column, it scores only once, but does not interrupt the potion.
- You score once per row and per column. If there are 2 potions in 1 row or column, only 1 (the most powerful) scores.
Centum auri
The Centum auri is worth 10 bonus points. This ingredient interrupts potions in the row and the column where it is located.
Write down your 10 scores on the score sheet. Then calculate and write down your colour bonus from Alarún. All points added together is your final score.
See the scoring example below.
End of the Game
The game ends after round 8. The apprentice who scored the most points in total will be appointed as the new druid of the village! In case of a tie, the apprentice with the most powerful potions (the most points from the potions alone) will be appointed as the new druid of the village. If it is still a tie after that, then the victory is shared.
Lauren's Scoring Example
Lauren's magic square has columns F-J and rows A-E.
- She makes her druid apprentice count as a blue dragon egg.
- The Centum auri gives her 10 bonus points.
- She scores per red ingredient 2 (colour bonus: 8 points).
- She scores a total of 86 points with her magic square. Lauren's final score is: 86 + 10 + 8 = 104 points.
Row scores: A = 6, B = 15, C = 10, D = 1, E = 6. Column scores: F = 3, G = 10, H = 15, I = 10, J = 10.
- A. There are 3 uninterrupted Fungi magica in different colours. The blue ingredient interrupts the potion of Fungi magica, so the orange Fungi magica is not connected and does not score.
- B. The druid apprentice counts as a dragon egg. Therefore a row of 5 uninterrupted dragon eggs in different colours is formed.
- C. There are 4 uninterrupted Moon berries in different colours.
- D. No similar ingredients, neither by type nor colour, that are connected.
- E. There are 3 uninterrupted ingredients of the same type in different colours. Lauren does not receive any points for the 2 ingredients of the other type in the same row, since you only score once per row/column.
- F. The Centum auri interrupts the 4 yellow ingredients in column F. Therefore the maximum of different uninterrupted yellow ingredients is 2.
- G. There are 4 different and uninterrupted white ingredients.
- H. There are 5 different and uninterrupted pink ingredients.
- I. The druid apprentice counts as a blue dragon egg. Therefore, there are 5 blue ingredients in column I. Lauren placed the same blue Moon berries twice in this column. Placing a second and exact same ingredient in a row or column does not interrupt the series of ingredients, however it does not strengthen the potion either. So there are 4 different uninterrupted blue ingredients in column I.
- J. There are 4 different and uninterrupted red ingredients.